


Stirring Things Up

by softestlad



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Blow Jobs, Flirting, Implied Sexual Content, Jealous Robert Sugden, Jealousy, M/M, aaron should always be getting hit on is my feeling, jealous robert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-27
Updated: 2019-05-27
Packaged: 2020-03-20 12:21:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18992566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softestlad/pseuds/softestlad
Summary: The call went on longer than Robert realised, fifteen minutes having squeaked past him. Aaron must be here by now – Robert pushed back into the pub and glanced around, searching for his husband, smiling when his eyes alit on him, the shadow of his beard, the soft folds of his hoodie stretched over the wide set of his chest and shoulders, Nate leaning in close to talk to him.Hang about.





	Stirring Things Up

**Author's Note:**

> incredibly self indulgent fic to help cope with the concurrence of robron drought and terrible global news landscape lol
> 
> i just think it's extremely funny that nate's been here 5 minutes and his official role is "village romantic-shit-stirrer" pls comment and chat to me about this and how the appearance of any fit lad on this show should mean aaron getting flirted with. every day this doesn't happen is a day i am robbed of fundamental truths, boys should be constantly following him around like ducklings
> 
> EDIT: lol so they're cousins. for the purpose of the fic we'll assume nate didn't realise aaron was a dingle, and to be fair, lad's fucked the respective mothers of both of his half brothers - entirely knowingly - and cracked onto debbie before cain mentioned she was his daughter so. it's not so much ooc as it is icky

It was amazing, but even the few weeks away were enough to make Robert miss the Woolie something terrible. It was a necessary chunk of time, Vic needed him, needed space from the village and her own house, somewhere to collect her head and get ready for what was coming. And it wasn’t like he was returning to a village exactly aglow with summer promise. Between the situation with Jacob and Maya imploding, and Lisa – poor Lisa. There was a slight pall over the pub, a mutedness that seemed to come from everyone being presented with the fact that horrible people who do horrible things still get to breathe the same air as the rest of them, while people who lit up the people around them had to go too soon. Robert swirled his pint, half gone as he sat waiting for Aaron, and couldn’t help thinking of Sarah. There really was no rhyme or reason to any of it, he thought, tracing a repeating circle of moisture on the bar with the base of his glass.

“Penny for ‘em?” someone said, from his right side. Robert looked up to see that new guy around he’d seen with Moira and Pete, who’d snogged Rhona that night at the club. His name was on the tip of Robert’s tongue, but he couldn’t quite – “Nate,” the guy said, obviously reading the half-recognition on Robert’s face.

“Nate, right. You’re working up at Butlers?” Nate nodded. “You pissed Cain off yet?”

“There’s a version of him that’s not mardy?” Robert huffed a laugh and took a sip of his pint.

“Not really, no, but I meant in particular.” It was Nate’s turn to laugh lightly, shaking his head.

“Might’ve done,” Nate admitted. At Robert’s questioning look, he shrugged. “Paid Moira a compliment. Or several.”

Robert hissed, raising his eyebrows, only half joking when he said, “And look at you. Never seen a corpse walk and talk so well before.”

“Listen, if he wasn’t going to do it someone had to,” Nate chuckled, “Fit is fit and she is it.”

“You’re getting deader by the second, mate.”

“You’re telling me,” Nate sighed, “Can’t seem to find a bird in this village to give me the time of day.”

“From what I’ve heard that’s not your problem,” Robert said. “Too much time of day from the sounds of things. Coming onto Moira, snogging Rhona,” Robert tutted playfully. “Barkin’ up all the wrong trees.”

“That’s what I’m talkin’ about though,” Nate said, a hint of genuine frustration leaching into his voice, a slight increase in tension in the line of his shoulders. “There’s no shortage of gorgeous women in this village, I’ll give it that. But they’re all bloody taken!”

“Single life,” Robert said, glancing down at his ring fondly, wondering whether Aaron would be much longer. “I don’t envy you.”

Nate clocked Robert’s ring, and seemed to barely refrain from rolling his eyes. Robert shuffled on his stool, trying and failing not to look too smug. He and Aaron had been…enthusiastic, since he got back from his trip with Vic, and though Robert was warm over Aaron telling him straight out that he missed Robert while he was away, he was burning up over the memory of Aaron showing him, of Robert lifting the covers that morning, still half asleep as he took in his husband, sucking him off with swollen lips and rumbling moans. Aaron had looked up at him, hair curling at his forehead and his eyes glittering. Robert curled and uncurled his toes in his shoes, just thinking of it, of Aaron taking him apart with his mouth, surrounded by bunched up piles of blanket, the beautiful cut of his shoulders as he held himself up, shifting forward so he could swallow Robert all the way down.

“Ugh,” Nate dragged Robert back to the present, Robert’s face heating at Nate’s playful disgust. “Loved up as any of them, you are. You’re no help.”

“Cheers,” Robert said, downing the last of his pint as Nate laughed.

“Might have to give up Emmerdale ladies as a lost cause,” Nate pondered aloud, “Switch gears.” He shook his head, and noticing Robert’s empty pint, tilted his own glass meaningfully. “Same again?”

“No, ta. Loo,” Robert said, sliding off his stool and nodding over to the doors through to the hallway. Nate saluted him jauntily and Robert wandered out to the bathrooms. It was kind of nice talking to someone whose problems were down to flirting with all the wrong people, someone who was clearly out trying to have some fun instead of being bogged down in all the drama Robert seemed to be surrounded by. Elbowing his way back out of the bathroom, Robert felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, and picked up to a new client he had recently signed on to Home James. Being away while he was still trying to resurrect the company from the Home Farm scheme’s ashes wasn’t exactly the smartest business decision – but not one he regretted either, not when he thought of Vic’s laugh at an episode of Bob’s Burgers they watched together, of how over the course of that time she went from living in the same comfy bottoms to slowly coming back to taking care of herself, picking out what Robert knew was her favourite top one morning, putting a little braid into her hair.

The call went on longer than Robert realised, fifteen minutes having squeaked past him. Aaron must be here by now – Robert pushed back into the pub and glanced around, searching for his husband, smiling when his eyes alit on him, the shadow of his beard, the soft folds of his hoodie stretched over the wide set of his chest and shoulders, Nate leaning in close to talk to him.

Hang about.

Robert blinked, then raised his eyebrows. Nate was showing Aaron something on his phone, and while Aaron was looking at the screen, Nate definitely wasn’t. His eyes were flitting all over Aaron’s face, that same chest that Robert had just been gazing at, and coming back again and again to Aaron’s mouth. To _Robert’s husband’s_ mouth. He watched as Aaron fully plucked the phone out of Nate’s grip, holding it in that charming way Robert had never seen anyone do, nevermind someone still in their twenties – like he had paws instead of hands. He held it out away from his face, looking at whatever it was at a distance, and Nate – Nate who, now that Robert looked through squinted, angry eyes, vaguely put him in the mind of the pictures he’d seen of Ed – clapped a hand on Aaron’s shoulder. Even from this distance, Robert could see him squeeze lightly, a gesture that could be friendly and platonic were it not for him leaning in close to Aaron, creating a private bubble for them.

Robert marched over before he realised what he was doing.

“You’ve found another wrong tree, mate,” Robert said, the _mate_ sounding more like _wanker_ as it was hissed through Robert’s teeth. Aaron turned at his voice, and after a flicker of contentment from seeing Robert beside him, his eyebrows drew down, confused.

“You what?”

Robert stared Nate down, whose hands were now wrapped around his pint glass, as though he hadn’t just had his palm pressed over where Robert had left fingernail crescent moons on Aaron’s shoulder that morning.

“Think I’ve solved your problem,” Robert continued, not pausing even as he saw Nate connect the dots. “You might run into less issues if you do a quick ring check first.” Robert watched as Nate’s eyes caught the glint of Aaron’s ring, clamped around Nate’s phone, a flashy car Robert would normally be curious about splashed across the screen. Chagrined for barely a moment, Nate drew himself up, shrugging casually.

“Wasn’t lookin’ at his hands, was I?” He winked at Aaron, who looked halfway between amused and baffled, and Robert moved subtly closer to his husband. Not subtly enough to escape Aaron’s notice however, and Robert knew just from his glance that Robert would be getting the absolute piss ripped out of him later for this. But he couldn’t stop himself glaring at Nate.

“Can’t blame me for tryin’,” he continued blithely, reaching over to take his phone back from Aaron, lingering to brush Aaron’s fingers with his.

“Oi, back off,” Robert moved to take a step forward, only for Aaron stand up from his seat to stop him with a hand on his chest.

“Calm down, Robert, he’s only winding you up,” Aaron said.

“Am I?” Nate said, turning a sultry gaze on Aaron. Robert frowned deeper. He’d obviously known Nate was fit, in an objective sense, but seeing him turn his boy-band smooth charm on Robert’s husband was sending pulses of anger through his nerves, electrical and prickling in the way Robert had learned to recognise as his own brand of ozone. “Pretty sure I was _chattin’ you up_.”

“Pretty sure I’m spoken for, mate.”

“Like everyone else in this bleedin’ village.”

“Maybe you should move,” Robert jabbed. “Don’t let the sheep hit you on the way out.” Aaron elbowed him in the side, though not enough to hurt.

“Ignore him,” Aaron told Nate.

“Oi!” Robert said.

“I’m tryin’ to,” Nate flirted. Aaron shook his head firmly, though Robert could see the curling edges of his mouth, the surpressed smile there.

“Hard no, I’m afraid.” Nate picked up his jacket from where it laid across the bar, a gusty, exaggerated sigh puffing out his chest.

“Shame,” Nate said, gathering himself up to leave the pub, ready to cut his losses. Robert watched him like a hawk as he moved past Robert and Aaron to get to the pub door, while Aaron was only looking Robert's way, with a flat, wry expression. As such, he didn’t see what Robert did – Nate casting a look back, trailing down Aaron’s spine to his arse, at which point he made an appreciative noise, and winked at Robert. “ _Such_ a shame.”

He pushed his way out of the pub.

“Robert,” Aaron said. Robert couldn’t look at him, pulse in his ears. He took a deep breath, knowing that in the cartoon of his life, there would be smoke billowing out of his nose. “Robert, take me home.”

That got Robert’s attention.

He looked down at Aaron, who was staring brazenly at his mouth. Robert blinked.

“You’re not…”

“Annoyed?” Aaron finished. “That you all but pissed in a circle around me? Yeah, and we’ll talk about it later if you want.” Aaron moved closer in such a way that no one else in the pub would be able to tell, but Robert definitely felt the heat radiating off Aaron’s body, and the finger that Aaron slid through the belt loop of his trousers. Aaron’s voice dropped low, not risking anyone overhearing – while Robert struggled to believe there was any one else in the building, with Aaron looking at him like that.

“But Liv’s got an exam. I’m still ready from this morning,” Aaron breathed, Robert stifling a moan in the middle of his mother-in-law’s pub. “And it’s been ages since we had an angry fuck.”

Aaron tilted his head, a silent question.

If Robert had dragged him out of there any faster they’d have left the smell of burning rubber from the soles of their shoes.


End file.
